By Miguel Maravilla
Video: Przemek Garczarczyk
Undefeated world middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) and WBC #1 super welterweight contender Vanes “The Nightmare” Martirosyan (36-3-1, 21 KOs) held the final press conference Wednesday afternoon at the Sheraton Gateway LAX in Los Angeles for their fight Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, California live on HBO. With just three days to go before the fight, here is what the combatants and their camps had to say:
Gennady “GGG” Golovkin: “This is not an easy fight. We have a big fight. Vanes is a good fighter. I promise we will put on a good show.”
Vanes Martirosyan: “This is my destiny fight. This is everything I have dreamed of. Triple G and I will put on a good fight. I can’t wait for Saturday. Don King thanks for believing in me. We’ve done all the talking, now we will do the fighting,”
Abel Sanchez: “We are so happy Tom was able to keep this card. We have been well prepared. I know Edmund will have Vanes ready. Please come out.”
Tom Loeffler: “This has been a challenging promotion. From Golovkin-Canelo at T-Mobile to Golovkin-Vanes at StubHub. The whole card flipped upside down. The whole dynamic of the card changed. We want to thank Vanes and his team for stepping up to the challenge. Gennady really wanted to fight and thank HBO and StubHub for saving the date.”
Don King: “This event is a spiritual event. This will be an extremely exciting fight. You cant knock a fighter like Golovkin. He has the desire to fight on 5 de Mayo. This whole event I’m glad to be back on HBO. Peter Nelson is getting it. Vanes was made the mandatory challenger. We have a great fight here.
“I promise you Golovkin, we will give you a rematch. Show them what you can do in losing. The Armenian named Vanes will make history. I want you to know this is a destiny fight!”
Also at the press conference were boxing’s only undisputed world champion Cecilia Braekhus (32-0, 9 KOs) of Bergen, Norway, by way of Cartagena, Colombia along with her trainer former world champion Lucia Rijker and her opponent Kali Reis (13-6-1, 4 KOs), from Providence, Rhode Island. They will face off in the co-feature making history as it will be the first time a women’s bout has been televised live on HBO.
Cecilia Braekhus: “I’m so excited to fight be on this card and on HBO. It takes two to rumble. We got Kali Reis not to showcase myself on HBO but to have a tough fighter to prove myself. I hope this fight opens the doors for more female fighters,”
Lucia Rijker: “I’m honored to be in Cecilia’s corner. This Saturday she will prove she’s a champion. She is beautiful but fights like an animal. These two girls will steal the show,”
Kali Reis: “I’m honored to be part of this. Thank HBO for giving me this opportunity, it is such an honor. Thank Cecilia for choosing me. I’ve been focused and I’m ready to put my mark in history Saturday night,”
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